Control of device features based on vehicle state

ABSTRACT

Methods and systems for a controlling device features based on vehicle state and device location are provided. Specifically, the device may be any type of electrical device capable of transmitting and/or receiving a signal (such as a phone, tablet, computer, music player, and/or other entertainment device). In some instances, the device may be associated with one or more vehicles. Although the device may be configured to run one or more applications, the functionality of the one or more applications may be controlled by a system associated with the vehicle. In some cases, this control may depend on the device application type, device location (either inside or outside of a vehicle), law, operator state, and/or vehicle state.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application claims the benefits of and priority, under 35U.S.C. §119(e), to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/560,509,filed on Nov. 16, 2011, entitled “Complete Vehicle Ecosystem”; Ser. No.61/637,164, filed on Apr. 23, 2012, entitled “Complete VehicleEcosystem”; Ser. No. 61/646,747, filed on May 14, 2012, entitled“Branding of Electrically Propelled Vehicles Via the Generation ofSpecific Operating Sounds”; Ser. No. 61/653,275, filed on May 30, 2012,entitled “Vehicle Application Store for Console”; Ser. No. 61/653,264,filed on May 30, 2012, entitled “Control of Device Features Based onVehicle State”; Ser. No. 61/653,563, filed on May 31, 2012, entitled“Complete Vehicle Ecosystem”; Ser. No. 61/663,335, filed on Jun. 22,2012, entitled “Complete Vehicle Ecosystem”; Ser. No. 61/672,483, filedon Jul. 17, 2012, entitled “Vehicle Climate Control”; and 61/714,016,filed on Oct. 15, 2012, entitled “Vehicle Middleware.” The entiredisclosures of the applications listed above are hereby incorporated byreference, in their entirety, for all that they teach and for allpurposes.

This application is also related to U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/420,236, filed on Mar. 14, 2012, entitled, “Configurable VehicleConsole”; Ser. No. 13/420,240, filed on Mar. 14, 2012, entitled“Removable, Configurable Vehicle Console”; Ser. No. 13/462,593, filed onMay 2, 2012, entitled “Configurable Dash Display”; Ser. No. 13/462,596,filed on May 2, 2012, entitled “Configurable Heads-Up Dash Display”;Ser. No. ______, filed on Nov. 16, 2012, entitled “Implementation ofConquest Functionality in Automotive Console” (Attorney Docket No.6583-228); Ser. No. ______, filed on Nov. 16, 2012, entitled “GestureRecognition for On-Board Display” (Attorney Docket No. 6583-229); Ser.No. ______, filed on Nov. 16, 2012, entitled “Vehicle Application Storefor Console” (Attorney Docket No. 6583-230); Ser. No. ______, filed onNov. 16, 2012, entitled “Sharing Applications/Media Between Car andPhone (Hydroid)” (Attorney Docket No. 6583-231); Ser. No. ______, filedon Nov. 16, 2012, entitled “In-Cloud Connection for Car Multimedia”(Attorney Docket No. 6583-232); Ser. No. ______, filed on Nov. 16, 2012,entitled “Music Streaming” (Attorney Docket No. 6583-233); Ser. No.______, filed on Nov. 16, 2012, entitled “Insurance Tracking” (AttorneyDocket No. 6583-235); Ser. No. ______, filed on Nov. 16, 2012, entitled“Law Breaking/Behavior Sensor” (Attorney Docket No. 6583-236); Ser. No.______, filed on Nov. 16, 2012, entitled “Etiquette Suggestion”(Attorney Docket No. 6583-237); Ser. No. ______, filed on Nov. 16, 2012,entitled “Parking Space Finder Based on Parking Meter Data” (AttorneyDocket No. 6583-238); Ser. No. ______, filed on Nov. 16, 2012, entitled“Parking Meter Expired Alert” (Attorney Docket No. 6583-239); Ser. No.______, filed on Nov. 16, 2012, entitled “Object Sensing (PedestrianAvoidance/Accident Avoidance)” (Attorney Docket No. 6583-240); Ser. No.______, filed on Nov. 16, 2012, entitled “Proximity Warning Relative toOther Cars” (Attorney Docket No. 6583-241); Ser. No. ______, filed onNov. 16, 2012, entitled “Street Side Sensors” (Attorney Docket No.6583-242); Ser. No. ______, filed on Nov. 16, 2012, entitled “CarLocation” (Attorney Docket No. 6583-243); Ser. No. ______, filed on Nov.16, 2012, entitled “Universal Bus in the Car” (Attorney Docket No.6583-244); Ser. No. ______, filed on Nov. 16, 2012, entitled “Mobile HotSpot/Router/Application Share Site or Network” (Attorney Docket No.6583-245); Ser. No. ______, filed on Nov. 16, 2012, entitled “UniversalConsole Chassis for the Car” (Attorney Docket No. 6583-246); Ser. No.______, filed on Nov. 16, 2012, entitled “Middleware” (Attorney DocketNo. 6583-247); Ser. No. ______, filed on Nov. 16, 2012, entitled “RealTime Traffic” (Attorney Docket No. 6583-248); Ser. No. ______, filed onNov. 16, 2012, entitled “Map Updating” (Attorney Docket No. 6583-249);Ser. No. ______, filed on Nov. 16, 2012, entitled “Communications Basedon Vehicle Diagnostics and Indications” (Attorney Docket No. 6583-250);Ser. No. ______, filed on Nov. 16, 2012, entitled “Felon Identifier”(Attorney Docket No. 6583-251); Ser. No. ______, filed on Nov. 16, 2012,entitled “Behavioral Tracking and Vehicle Applications” (Attorney DocketNo. 6583-252); Ser. No. ______, filed on Nov. 16, 2012, entitled“Improvements to Controller Area Network Bus” (Attorney Docket No.6583-314); Ser. No. ______, filed on Nov. 16, 2012, entitled “LocationInformation Exchange Between Vehicle and Device” (Attorney Docket No.6583-315); Ser. No. ______, filed on Nov. 16, 2012, entitled “In CarCommunication Between Devices” (Attorney Docket No. 6583-316); Ser. No.______, filed on Nov. 16, 2012, entitled “Configurable Hardware Unit forCar Systems” (Attorney Docket No. 6583-317); Ser. No. ______, filed onNov. 16, 2012, entitled “Feature Recognition for Configuring a VehicleConsole and Associated Devices” (Attorney Docket No. 6583-318); Ser. No.______, filed on Nov. 16, 2012, entitled “Configurable Vehicle Console”(Attorney Docket No. 6583-412); Ser. No. ______, filed on Nov. 16, 2012,entitled “Configurable Dash Display” (Attorney Docket No. 6583-413);Ser. No. ______, filed on Nov. 16, 2012, entitled “Configurable Heads-UpDash Display” (Attorney Docket No. 6583-414); and Ser. No. ______, filedon Nov. 16, 2012, entitled “Removable, Configurable Vehicle Console”(Attorney Docket No. 6583-415). The entire disclosures of theapplications listed above are hereby incorporated by reference, in theirentirety, for all that they teach and for all purposes.

BACKGROUND

Whether using private, commercial, or public transport, the movement ofpeople and/or cargo has become a major industry. In today'sinterconnected world, daily travel is essential to engaging in commerce.Commuting to and from work can account for a large portion of atraveler's day. As a result, vehicle manufacturers have begun to focuson making this commute, and other journeys, more enjoyable.

Currently, vehicle manufacturers attempt to entice travelers to use aspecific conveyance based on any number of features. Most of thesefeatures focus on vehicle safety, or efficiency. From the addition ofsafety-restraints, air-bags, and warning systems to more efficientengines, motors, and designs, the vehicle industry has worked to appeasethe supposed needs of the traveler. Recently, however, vehiclemanufactures have shifted their focus to user and passenger comfort as aprimary concern. Making an individual more comfortable while travelinginstills confidence and pleasure in using a given vehicle, increasing anindividual's preference for a given manufacturer and/or vehicle type.

One way to instill comfort in a vehicle is to create an environmentwithin the vehicle similar to that of an individual's home or place ofcomfort. Integrating features in a vehicle that are associated withcomfort found in an individual's home can ease a traveler's transitionfrom home to vehicle. Several manufacturers have added comfort featuresin vehicles such as the following: leather seats, adaptive and/orpersonal climate control systems, music and media players, ergonomiccontrols, and in some cases Internet connectivity. However, becausethese manufacturers have added features to a conveyance, they have builtcomfort around a vehicle and failed to build a vehicle around comfort.

SUMMARY

There is a need for a vehicle ecosystem that can integrate both physicaland mental comforts while seamlessly operating with current electronicdevices to result in an intuitive and immersive user experience. Theseand other needs are addressed by the various aspects, embodiments,and/or configurations of the present disclosure. Also, while thedisclosure is presented in terms of exemplary embodiments, it should beappreciated that individual aspects of the disclosure can be separatelyclaimed.

A method of controlling access to one or more features of acommunication device associated with a vehicle is described. In someembodiments, the method comprises: establishing a connection between thecommunication device and a feature control module, wherein the featurecontrol module is configured to receive input from at least one of avehicle sensor and a non-vehicle sensor; determining a location of thecommunication device; and controlling, via the feature control moduleand based at least partially on the location of the communicationdevice, user access to one or more features of the communication device.

The present disclosure can provide a number of advantages depending onthe particular aspect, embodiment, and/or configuration. Currently,drivers and other vehicle operators can operate their vehicles whiletexting, talking, surfing the Internet, streaming video, and generallyusing their mobile phones and/or other connected devices. Using thesedevices while operating a vehicle may not only be considered unsafe, butmay also contradict local, state, federal, and other laws. Moreover, theuse of devices, especially communication devices, while driving causesgreater distraction and is a leading cause of accidents among teenagedrivers.

Among other things, the present disclosure is directed to an intelligentsystem that is capable of recognizing a user and device and determiningto allow or deny the user access to device features. In particular, thesystem may recognize one or more characteristics associated with a userand/or device and limit access to device features at least partiallybased on the one or more characteristics. These characteristics mayinclude but are not limited to location of the user and/or device, userprofile settings, user preferences, registration status of the device,device settings, programmed conditions, and the like. For example, auser may be operating a device in the passenger seat of an automobile.Moreover, the user may have established a connection between the deviceand the vehicle (e.g., via Bluetooth, direct electrical connection,wireless, radio frequency (RF), infrared (IR), etc.). In this example,the vehicle feature control system may utilize one or more of thevehicle/device sensors to determine the location of the device user.These sensors may include cameras, weight sensors, IR detectors,temperature sensors, GPS, triangulation and/or position sensors, andcombinations thereof. Many vehicles, especially cars, utilize sensors ofthis type to activate and/or deactivate airbag and/or safety restraintsystem components. Upon detecting that the user and/or device in thiscase is located in a passenger seat, a feature control module maydetermine that feature access should not be controlled. On the otherhand, if the user was seated in a vehicle operation seat (e.g., driver'sseat) the feature control module may determine to limit access to one ormore features of the device.

It is anticipated that the feature control module may refer to otherfactors when determining to allow or deny a user access to a device'sfeatures. Among these other factors are jurisdictional and/or federallaws, contractual rules/obligations, programmed conditions, vehiclestate, emergency contingencies, and combinations thereof. Contractualrules/obligations may include but are not limited to contractlimitations associated with employment contracts, insurance contracts,general agreements, governmental contracts, and the like. These rulesand/or laws may be used in determining feature control of a device. Forinstance, a vehicle may be detected to be “in motion” by the featurecontrol module and various vehicle/device sensors. Moreover, the featurecontrol module may be configured to communicate to a database todetermine laws governing the use of communication devices in the currentgeographical location of the vehicle. For the sake of example, a locallaw may prohibit the use of communication devices by a driver of avehicle while that vehicle is in motion. Based on the vehicle state(i.e., in motion), the location of the user (i.e., driver's seat), andthe local law (i.e., prohibiting use of devices by drivers of a movingvehicle) the feature control module may determine to deny access todevice features. In some embodiments, the feature control module maycommunicate with the device to deactivate the features of the device.This deactivation may be coupled with a presented warning in the form ofa visual and/or audible alert on the device and/or vehicle dash display.Additionally, it is anticipated that the feature control module mayreactivate these deactivated features once the vehicle is in a state ofrest and/or parked.

In some embodiments, the feature control module may itself receive froma satellite positioning system receiver in the vehicle or from asatellite positioning system receiver in the communication devicesatellite location information alone or in conjunction withvehicle-related state, configuration, and/or operation information(speed, parking sensors, etc.) to determine the current vehicle state,configuration, and/or operation. Exemplary on-board vehicle sensors thatmay be accessed by the feature control module include a wheel statesensor to sense one or more of vehicle speed, acceleration,deceleration, wheel rotation, wheel speed (e.g., wheelrevolutions-per-minute), wheel slip, and the like, a power source energyoutput sensor to sense a power output of an on-board power source (e.g.,an engine or energy storage device) by measuring one or more of currentengine speed (e.g., revolutions-per-minute), energy input and/or output(e.g., voltage, current, fuel consumption, and torque), and the like, aswitch state sensor to determine a current activation or deactivationstate of a power source activation/deactivation switch, a transmissionsetting sensor to determine a current setting of the vehicletransmission (e.g., gear selection or setting), a gear controller sensorto determine a current setting of a gear controller, a power controllersensor to determine a current setting of a power controller (e.g.,throttle), a brake sensor to determine a current state (braking ornon-braking) of a vehicle braking system, a seating system sensor todetermine a seat setting and current weight of seated occupant, if any,in a selected seat of the vehicle seating system, a safety system statesensors to determine a current state of a vehicular safety system (e.g.,air bag setting (deployed or undeployed) and/or seat belt setting(engaged or not engaged)), a light setting sensor (e.g., currentheadlight, emergency light, brake light, parking light, fog light,interior or passenger compartment light, and/or tail light state (on oroff)), a brake control (e.g., pedal) setting sensor, an acceleratorpedal setting sensor, a clutch pedal setting sensor, an emergency brakepedal setting sensor, a door setting (e.g., open, closed, locked orunlocked) sensor, a window setting (open or closed) sensor, and othersensors known to those of skill in the vehicle art. When, for example, avehicle is in motion, the feature control module can disallow/deactivateuse of texting, video streaming, and other applications. Once thevehicle is determined to be in a “parked” condition (e.g., in “Park”),or otherwise motionless, the applications may be allowed and activated.As previously stated, these features may be controlled in accordancewith local/state/federal laws as well as administrative agency laws,insurance contract, governmental contracts, general agreements, and/oremployment contracts.

In another embodiment, communication modes, such as texting, tweeting,email, and the like may be enabled or disabled based on vehiclelocation. Vehicle location may be mapped against applicable laws of agovernmental entity, such as a city, municipality, county, province,state, country, and the like. Alternatively, capabilities of the devicemay be enabled or disabled based on contract requirements, employerrules or policies, etc.

In yet another embodiment, a feature control module may be programmed tocontrol a specific device, or group of devices, based on settingsassociated with a user. During a registration process between a deviceand a vehicle, via the feature control module, the registering party maybe prompted to input specific information via a control panel, thedevice, and/or a dash display interface. The registration of devices maybe password-protected and even associated with a master key or pass. Insome embodiments, the registration process will grant the featurecontrol module permission to control one or more features of the device.In other embodiments, the feature control module may be configured tocontrol one or more communication features of the device regardless ofregistration permission. This unauthorized control of devicecommunication features may be achieved by affecting the transmission ofsignals sent to and/or from the device.

To better illustrate the concept of controlling device features based onsettings, the example of a teenage driver is provided. In this example,a teenage driver may own a particular communication device. This devicemay have a unique media access control (MAC) address or other uniquehardware/software identifier. In one embodiment, the device may beregistered with the feature control module by an authorized user (e.g.,a parent, guardian, or governmental entity). During the registrationprocess, the authorized user may configure the settings associated withthe device and teenage driver to be especially strict. In other words,the authorized user may determine to disable all communication functionsof the device while the vehicle is in motion. On the other hand, theauthorized user may determine to allow telephonic connections while inmotion but disable other features such as texting, emailing, and surfingthe Internet (e.g., disable the browser capability). Additionally oralternatively, an authorized user may determine that communicationdevices inside a vehicle (associated with any person, and even in anyarea), shall be controlled by the feature control module. In thisinstance, the feature control module may prevent the exchange ofcommunication signals to and from one or more device inside a vehicle.

In some embodiments, the feature control module may determine to controlone or more features based on vehicle state and/or condition. In oneembodiment, access to features of a device may be overridden. Thisoverriding control may be beneficial in the case of an emergency. Forinstance, the feature control module may determine that a vehicle and/orone or more users are in a state of emergency. If a vehicle has beeninvolved in a collision or accident, one or more sensors associated withthe vehicle are configured to report the incident. In accordance withthe present disclosure, the feature control module may receive inputfrom the multiple sensors to determine appropriate device featurecontrol. For example, a car may be involved in a roll-over accident.Although the wheels of the car may still be moving, and the vehicle isnot in “park,” the presence of the accident may be reported by thesensors and therefore functionality of device features may be returnedto the one or more devices associated with the vehicle. Alternatively, auser in a vehicle may have suffered a seizure, or illness, that causesthe user to shake uncontrollably. This movement and/or condition may bedetected by the device associated with that user and as such signal anemergency event associated with the user. The feature control module mayreceive this input and return device feature functionality for a periodof time.

The phrases “at least one”, “one or more”, and “and/or” are open-endedexpressions that are both conjunctive and disjunctive in operation. Forexample, each of the expressions “at least one of A, B and C”, “at leastone of A, B, or C”, “one or more of A, B, and C”, “one or more of A, B,or C” and “A, B, and/or C” means A alone, B alone, C alone, A and Btogether, A and C together, B and C together, or A, B and C together.

The term “a” or “an” entity refers to one or more of that entity. Assuch, the terms “a” (or “an”), “one or more” and “at least one” can beused interchangeably herein. It is also to be noted that the terms“comprising”, “including”, and “having” can be used interchangeably.

The term “automatic” and variations thereof, as used herein, refers toany process or operation done without material human input when theprocess or operation is performed. However, a process or operation canbe automatic, even though performance of the process or operation usesmaterial or immaterial human input, if the input is received beforeperformance of the process or operation. Human input is deemed to bematerial if such input influences how the process or operation will beperformed. Human input that consents to the performance of the processor operation is not deemed to be “material.”

The term “computer-readable medium” as used herein refers to anytangible storage and/or transmission medium that participate inproviding instructions to a processor for execution. Such a medium maytake many forms, including but not limited to, non-volatile media,volatile media, and transmission media. Non-volatile media includes, forexample, NVRAM, or magnetic or optical disks. Volatile media includesdynamic memory, such as main memory. Common forms of computer-readablemedia include, for example, a floppy disk, a flexible disk, hard disk,magnetic tape, or any other magnetic medium, magneto-optical medium, aCD-ROM, any other optical medium, punch cards, paper tape, any otherphysical medium with patterns of holes, a RAM, a PROM, and EPROM, aFLASH-EPROM, a solid state medium like a memory card, any other memorychip or cartridge, a carrier wave as described hereinafter, or any othermedium from which a computer can read. A digital file attachment toe-mail or other self-contained information archive or set of archives isconsidered a distribution medium equivalent to a tangible storagemedium. When the computer-readable media is configured as a database, itis to be understood that the database may be any type of database, suchas relational, hierarchical, object-oriented, and/or the like.Accordingly, the disclosure is considered to include a tangible storagemedium or distribution medium and prior art-recognized equivalents andsuccessor media, in which the software implementations of the presentdisclosure are stored.

The term “module” as used herein refers to any known or later developedhardware, software, firmware, artificial intelligence, fuzzy logic, orcombination of hardware and software that is capable of performing thefunctionality associated with that element.

The term “satellite positioning system receiver” refers to a wirelessreceiver or transceiver to receive and/or send location signals fromand/or to a satellite positioning system, such as the Global PositioningSystem (“GPS”) (US), GLONASS (Russia), Galileo positioning system (EU),Compass navigation system (China), and Regional Navigational SatelliteSystem (India).

The terms “determine,” “calculate,” and “compute,” and variationsthereof, as used herein, are used interchangeably and include any typeof methodology, process, mathematical operation or technique.

It shall be understood that the term “means” as used herein shall begiven its broadest possible interpretation in accordance with 35 U.S.C.,Section 112, Paragraph 6. Accordingly, a claim incorporating the term“means” shall cover all structures, materials, or acts set forth herein,and all of the equivalents thereof. Further, the structures, materialsor acts and the equivalents thereof shall include all those described inthe summary of the invention, brief description of the drawings,detailed description, abstract, and claims themselves.

The term “vehicle” as used herein includes any conveyance, or model of aconveyance, where the conveyance was originally designed for the purposeof moving one or more tangible objects, such as people, animals, cargo,and the like. The term “vehicle” does not require that a conveyancemoves or is capable of movement. Typical vehicles may include but are inno way limited to cars, trucks, motorcycles, busses, automobiles,trains, railed conveyances, boats, ships, marine conveyances, submarineconveyances, airplanes, space craft, flying machines, human-poweredconveyances, and the like.

The terms “dash” and “dashboard” and variations thereof, as used herein,are used interchangeably and include any panel and/or area of a vehicledisposed adjacent to an operator, user, and/or passenger. Typicaldashboards may include but are not limited to one or more control panel,instrument housing, head unit, indicator, gauge, meter, light, audioequipment, computer, screen, display, HUD unit, and graphical userinterface.

The terms “communication device,” “smartphone,” and “mobile device,” andvariations thereof, as used herein, are used interchangeably and includeany type of device capable of communicating with one or more of anotherdevice and/or across a communications network, via a communicationsprotocol, and the like. Exemplary communication devices may include butare not limited to smartphones, handheld computers, laptops, netbooks,notebook computers, subnotebooks, tablet computers, scanners, portablegaming devices, phones, pagers, GPS modules, portable music players, andother Internet-enabled and/or network-connected devices.

The preceding is a simplified summary of the disclosure to provide anunderstanding of some aspects of the disclosure. This summary is neitheran extensive nor exhaustive overview of the disclosure and its variousaspects, embodiments, and/or configurations. It is intended neither toidentify key or critical elements of the disclosure nor to delineate thescope of the disclosure but to present selected concepts of thedisclosure in a simplified form as an introduction to the more detaileddescription presented below. As will be appreciated, other aspects,embodiments, and/or configurations of the disclosure are possibleutilizing, alone or in combination, one or more of the features setforth above or described in detail below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram depicting a feature control system inaccordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram depicting areas and zones associated with avehicle in accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram depicting a first feature control system methodin accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram depicting a second feature control systemmethod in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram depicting a third feature control system methodin accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram depicting a fourth feature control systemmethod in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure.

In the appended figures, similar components and/or features may have thesame reference label. Further, various components of the same type maybe distinguished by following the reference label by a letter thatdistinguishes among the similar components. If only the first referencelabel is used in the specification, the description is applicable to anyone of the similar components having the same first reference labelirrespective of the second reference label.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Presented herein are embodiments of a feature control system. Thefeature control system can comprise one device or a compilation ofdevices. Furthermore, the feature control system may include one or morecommunications devices, such as cellular telephones, or other smartdevices. This device, or devices, may be capable of communicating withother devices and/or to an individual or group of individuals. Further,this device, or these devices, can receive user input in unique ways. Asdescribed herein, the device(s) may be electrical, mechanical,electro-mechanical, software-based, and/or combinations thereof.

For purposes of explanation, numerous details are set forth in order toprovide a thorough understanding of the present invention. It should beappreciated, however, that the present invention may be practiced in avariety of ways beyond the specific details set forth herein.

Referring to FIG. 1, a block diagram is shown depicting a featurecontrol system 100 in accordance with one embodiment of the presentdisclosure. In general the feature control system 100 comprises afeature control module 104 in communication with one or more of acommunication device 108, sensor 136, 140, user 112, memory 106, 120,124, server 122, and communication network 116. In some embodiments, thefeature control module 104 is configured to control one or more device108 features based on rules and/or input received. It is anticipatedthat the input received may be from one or more device 108, sensor 136,140, and or user 112. Moreover, rules may be stored in one or morememory 106, 120, 124 of the feature control system 100. For example, thefeature control module 104 may detect the presence of a device 108 by aphysical or wireless connection. Upon detecting the device 108, thefeature control module 104 may determine to control features of thedevice 108 based on the stored rules. These stored rules may direct acourse of action based on input detected at the sensors 136, 140 and/ordevice 108. If the sensors 136, 140 report that the device 108 and user112 are in the driver's seat of the vehicle, the rules may determine tolimit access to device 100 features.

In an exemplary embodiment, a vehicle comprises the feature controlmodule 104 in its software and/or hardware implementation. However, thefeature control module 104 may be located remotely from a vehicle andsubstantially perform all of the functions and operations as describedherein. For example, the feature control module 104 may be integratedinto the device 108. Additionally or alternatively, the feature controlmodule 104 and/or its functionality could be split between the device108 and an in-vehicle representation. For instance, the split embodimentmay further control the device 108 by limiting the device's 108 abilityto perform specific functions while coupled and/or decoupled from thefeature control module 104 of the vehicle. Although it can beappreciated that the location of the feature control module 104 mayvary, for the purposes of this disclosure, the feature control module104 will be described as residing locally within a vehicle.

In some embodiments, the feature control module 104 may be configured toreceive one or more inputs. These one or more inputs may be used todetermine whether to control features associated with a device such asdevice 108. In general, a device in wireless and/or physicalcommunication with the feature control module 104 may be controlled. Thefeature control module 104 may affect the control of a device's featuresvia control of one or more of the device display, communications, state,applications, and/or combinations thereof. In one embodiment, a featurecontrol module 104 may receive permission to control a device 108. Thispermission may be granted upon a registration of the device 108 with thefeature control module 104. Furthermore, this type of registration maybe achieved via the installation and/or operation of an application onthe device 108. In an exemplary embodiment, the application may at leastfacilitate communications between the device 108 and the feature controlmodule 104, control the state of the device 108 at the direction of thefeature control module 104, and/or control a user's 112 access to one ormore features of the device 108. However, it is an aspect of the presentdisclosure that the feature control module 104 may affect thecommunications ability of any device 108 within a specific area of thevehicle based on signal attenuation and/or interference techniques.

The device 108 may include a global positioning system (GPS) receiver.In accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure, the GPSreceiver may further comprise a GPS module that is capable of providingabsolute location information to other components of the device 108and/or the feature control module 104. An accelerometer(s)/gyroscope(s)may also be included. In some embodiments, the accelerometer/gyroscopemay comprise at least one accelerometer and at least one gyroscope. Forexample, a signal from the accelerometer/gyroscope can be used todetermine an orientation of the device 108. This orientation may be usedby the feature control module to determine a state of the device 108.

It is anticipated that the device 108 may include a dual-screen phone,smartpad, and/or vehicle console as described in respective U.S. patentapplication Ser. Nos. 13/222,921, filed Aug. 31, 2011, entitled “DESKTOPREVEAL EXPANSION,” and 13/247,581, filed Sep. 28, 2011, entitled“SMARTPAD ORIENTATION,” and 13/420,240, filed Mar. 14, 2012, entitled“REMOVABLE, CONFIGURABLE VEHICLE CONSOLE.” Each of the aforementioneddocuments is incorporated herein by this reference in their entirety forall that they teach and for all purposes.

The device 108 may be associated with one or more user 112. In someembodiments, a user 112 may be identified by one or more ofcharacteristics, preferences, identification, and usage. In addition,historical data relating to the one or more user 112 may be stored bythe device 108 in a memory 106, 120, 124. As can be appreciated thememory may be local 120, remote 106, 124, and/or combinations thereof.

The communication network 116 may be any type of known communicationmedium or collection of communication mediums and may use any type ofprotocols to transport messages between endpoints. The communicationnetwork 116 may include wired and/or wireless communicationtechnologies. The Internet is an example of the communication network116 that constitutes an IP network consisting of many computers andother communication devices located all over the world, which areconnected through many telephone systems and other means. Other examplesof the communication network 116 include, without limitation, a standardPlain Old Telephone System (POTS), an Integrated Services DigitalNetwork (ISDN), the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), a LocalArea Network (LAN), a Wide Area Network (WAN), a cellular communicationnetwork, a cable communication network, a satellite communicationnetwork, any type of enterprise network, and any other type ofpacket-switched or circuit-switched network known in the art. It can beappreciated that the communication network 116 need not be limited toany one network type, and instead may be comprised of a number ofdifferent networks and/or network types. In some embodiments, thecommunication network 116 may comprise a controller area network, orCANbus, associated with vehicle, automotive, and/or automationcommunications. Moreover, it is anticipated that communications betweenvarious components of the feature control system 100 can be carried byone or more busses.

The server 122 may comprise a general purpose programmable processor orcontroller for executing application programming or instructions. Inaccordance with at least some embodiments, the server 122 may includemultiple processor cores, and/or implement multiple virtual processors.In accordance with still other embodiments, the server 122 may includemultiple physical processors. As a particular example, the server maycomprise a specially configured application specific integrated circuit(ASIC) or other integrated circuit, a digital signal processor, acontroller, a hardwired electronic or logic circuit, a programmablelogic device or gate array, a special purpose computer, or the like. Theserver 122 generally functions to run programming code or instructionsimplementing various functions of the feature control system 100 and/orfeature control module 104.

The vehicle sensors 132 may include but are not limited to one or moreof a throttle position sensor, accelerator pedal angle sensor, speedsensor, speedometer, vehicle speed sensor, wind speed, radar, brakeposition sensor, brake wear sensor, steering/torque sensor, transmissionsensor, oxygen sensor, headlight sensor, ambient lighting sensor, visionsystem sensor, ranging sensor, parking sensor, heating venting and airconditioning (HVAC) sensor, turbine speed sensor, input speed sensor,water sensor, air-fuel ratio meter, blind spot monitor, crankshaftposition sensor, engine temperature sensor, cabin temperature sensor,hall effect sensor, manifold absolute pressure sensor, mass flow sensor,microphone, camera sensor, crash detection sensor, safety restraintsensors, weight sensor, radio frequency (RF) sensor, infrared sensor(IR), vehicle control system sensors, location and/or position sensors,Wi-Fi sensor, cellular data sensor, Bluetooth sensor, and the like. Insome embodiments, the one or more vehicle sensors 132 may be located indifferent areas or zones of a vehicle. For instance a first sensor 136 amay be located in a proximal portion of a vehicle, while a second sensor136 b may be located in a distal portion of the vehicle. As can beappreciated the number of vehicle sensors 132 may vary according tovehicle type and/or vehicle control system complexity. In an exemplaryembodiment, the vehicle sensors 132 may be configured to communicateacross a communication network 116 and/or directly with the featurecontrol module 104. One example of a communication network in a typicalautomotive application may include utilizing the CANbus and associatedprotocol.

In some embodiments, the feature control module 104 may employ the useof one or more non-vehicle sensors 140. The non-vehicle sensors 140 mayinclude one or more type of vehicle sensor 132 described herein.However, the non-vehicle sensors 140 may be separated from the vehicle.Additionally or alternatively, the non-vehicle sensors 140 may comprisesensors associated with one or more other devices. For instance, thenon-vehicle sensors 140 may be associated with at least one device 108.These sensors may include but are not limited to one or more of anaccelerometer/gyroscope, GPS, compass, camera, microphone, audioinput/output, temperature sensor, health monitoring sensors, and thelike.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram depicting areas and zones associated with avehicle 204 in accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure.In general, a vehicle 204 may comprise one or more areas 208, 216, 220.The areas 208, 216, 220 may in fact be a volume of space and/or a pointlocation (e.g., a docking location, holder, power port, signal port, andso on). These one or more areas 208, 216, 220 may be located inside(208) or outside (216, 220) of a vehicle 204. It is an aspect of thepresent disclosure that the one or more areas 208, 216, 220 of a vehicle204 may occupy different, overlapping, or substantially similar physicalpositions in and/or about the vehicle 204. For instance, the inside of avehicle 204 may comprise a first area 208 a and a second area 208 b. Asdepicted, the first area 208 a may occupy a different physical locationof the vehicle 204 than the second area 208 b. In some embodiments, theareas 208 may be subdivided into one or more zones 212. The one or morezones 212 may completely occupy an area 208 of the vehicle 204.Additionally or alternatively, the one or more zones 212 may occupy aportion of an area 208 of the vehicle 204. It is anticipated that theone or more areas 208 of a vehicle 204 may comprise different zone 212to area 208 ratios. For example, a vehicle 204 may comprise a first area208 a including a first zone 212 a and a second zone 212 b. This firstarea 208 a may correspond to the proximal portion of a vehicle 204. Thefirst zone 212 a may represent a driver/operator seat of a vehicle 204,while the second zone 212 b may represent a proximal passenger seat of avehicle 204. Continuing the example above, a second area 208 b mayinclude a third zone 212 c, a fourth zone 212 d, and a fifth zone 212 e.This second area 208 b may represent a passenger area of a vehicle 204.The third zone 212 c, fourth zone 212 d, and fifth zone 212 e mayrepresent individual passenger seats, and/or areas, in the passengerarea of the vehicle 204.

In some embodiments, each area 208, 216, 220 and/or zone 212 associatedwith a vehicle 204 may comprise one or more sensors to determine apresence in and/or adjacent to each area 208, 216, 220 and/or zone 212.The sensors may include vehicle sensors 132 and/or non-vehicle sensors140 as described herein. It is anticipated that the sensors may beconfigured to communicate with a vehicle controls system and/or thefeature control module 104. Additionally or alternatively, the sensorsmay communicate with a device 108. The communication of sensors with thevehicle 204 may initiate and/or terminate the control of device 108features. For example, a vehicle operator may be located in a secondoutside area 220 associated with a vehicle 204. As the operatorapproaches the first outside area 216 associated with the vehicle 204,the feature control module 104 may determine to control featuresassociated with one or more device 108. In an exemplary embodiment, thefeature control module 104 may determine to control features associatedwith the device 108 of the vehicle operator. In this scenario, thefeature control module 104 may determine to control a vehicle statusapplication on the device 108. Once the vehicle operator enters thevehicle 204, the sensors 132, 140 may determine that the vehicleoperator is in an area 208 and/or zone 212. As is further describedherein, the feature control module 104 may utilize the device 108,and/or user 112, location information to control features of the device108 based on rules.

FIGS. 3-6 depict multiple methods of the feature control system 100operation. In some embodiments, the feature control system 100 methodsmay be controlled manually via user input and/or automatically via aprocessor.

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram depicting a first feature control system method300 in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure. The method300 begins at step 304 by detecting one or more devices 108 associatedwith the vehicle 204. Detection may include a voluntary registrationand/or communication between a vehicle 204 and a device 108. Among otherthings, this type of registration and/or communication may befacilitated via the installation of an application on the device 108. Insome embodiments, the application may provide one or more of acommunication protocol, use permissions, and access to the featurecontrol module 104. For example, a user may turn on a newly presenteddevice 108 inside a vehicle 204, and as a result may be prompted toregister the device 108 with the vehicle 204. This registration promptprocess may be effected automatically and/or manually. In someembodiments, the feature control module 104, utilizing one or moresensors 132, 140, may detect the presence of a device 108 and send asignal to the device 108 in the form of an installation prompt.

In other embodiments, the feature control module 104 may communicatewith a device 108 via a physical electrical connection. For instance,the feature control module 104 may include an electrical interconnectionconfigured to facilitate communications between the feature controlmodule 104 and at least one device 108. In one embodiment of the presentdisclosure the electrical interconnection may provide power to thedevice 108 via this electrical interconnection.

In yet another embodiment, the feature control module 104 maycommunicate with a device 108 via one or more wireless protocol. It isanticipated that the wireless protocol may include, but is not limitedto, one or more existing communications protocols and/or equivalentsthereof. Common device 108 communications protocols may includeBluetooth®, Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11 standards), RF, IR, and variationsthereof. In some instances, a device 108 may be paired with one or moresensors used by the feature control module 104 to allow persistentand/or reestablishing communications between the device 108 and thefeature control module 104.

The method 300 continues at step 312 by determining the location of theone or more detected devices 108. In accordance with some embodiments ofthe present disclosure, the location of a device 108 may be found usingvehicle sensors 132 and/or non-vehicle sensors 140. For example, adevice 108 may be detected using sensors 132, 140 found inside a vehicle204. The location of the device 108 inside the vehicle 204 may beobtained via the use of triangulation, sensing, and/or rangingtechniques (e.g., measuring signal strength from different points, pingand response, and/or similar position detecting procedures). Theprocedure of determining a location associated with a device 108 becomesmore streamlined upon the physical connection to a known port/electricalconnection of the vehicle 204. Moreover, if the device 108 is registeredto a particular user 112, the location of the device 108 may beinterpreted using stored preferences and/or settings. It is an aspect ofthe present disclosure that the device 108 itself may report aposition/location. This location may be provided via typical device 108location services such as GPS, Wi-Fi data, and/or cellular data.

In some embodiments, different locations of a device 108 may providedifferent responses from the feature control module 104. For example, adevice 108 may be determined to be in a location where use of a device108 is considered to be highly-restricted. The driver's seat and/orpilot area may be an example of such a highly-restricted use location.As such, the feature control module 104 may limit access to the device108 and/or features of the device 108 based on rules assigned to thiszone 212 and/or area 208. In accordance with the present disclosure,another location of the vehicle 204 may be classified as a restrictedlocation. In such locations, the feature control module 104 maydetermine to control access to the device 108 and/or features of thedevice 108 based on less restrictive rules than those used for thehighly-restricted location. In some embodiments, a device 108 may beused in an unrestricted location. This unrestricted location may allow auser 112 complete access to a device 108 based on rules defined for theunrestricted location. As can be appreciated, different areas 208 and/orzones 212 of a vehicle 204 may be classified as various levels ofrestricted use. Although the highly-restricted, restricted, andunrestricted locations have be presented herein, it is an aspect of thepresent disclosure that may levels of restricted and/or unrestricted usemay be utilized by the feature control module 104.

In some embodiments, the method 300 continues by determining one or morevehicle-device use laws (step 312). These vehicle-device use laws may beprovided by an organization, governmental entity, group, individual,and/or combinations thereof. Additionally or alternatively, the laws maybe created in response to detected input and/or conditions monitored bythe feature control module 104, device 108, and/or sensors 132, 140. Thelaws may be stored in local memory 106 by the feature control module104, or the laws may be retrieved from another stored data memory 120,124. In some cases, the feature control module may refer to a remotememory 120, 124 to determine laws and/or rules associated with aspecific locality, region, user 112, and/or device 108.

In an exemplary embodiment, the laws may be statutes and/or regulationsthat are enforced by a government entity. These laws may define vehicle,traffic, transportation, and/or safety rules associated with a givengeographical region. Moreover, these laws may be stored locally and/orremotely as described herein. Furthermore, the laws may be updated fromtime to time to, among other things, account for changes in the laws.For example, the State of Idaho may ban the use of texting (i.e.,sending a text message via some device 108) while driving, but may allowthe use of a handheld mobile phone (e.g., device). In contrast, theState of Oregon may completely ban the use of handheld devices. Whilethe user 112 is traveling in Idaho, the feature control module 104 mayrefer to the laws of Idaho and determine to control the device 108 inaccordance with Idaho law. However, once the user 112 is detected asbeing in Oregon, the feature control module 104 may control the device108 based, at least in part, on the laws of Oregon. This procedure willbe described further herein, however, it should be noted that thevehicle sensors 132 and/or other sensors 140 may determine at least onelocation of the device 108, and refer to laws associated with that atleast one location to control the device 108 accordingly.

The method continues at step 316 by determining settings of the one ormore associated devices 108. These settings may include data relating tothe feature control module 104, communications, permissions, device 108control, methods, user preferences, historical data, and the like. Ascan be appreciated, a device 108 may have multiple power statesassociated with its operation. Most devices, including smartphones,tablets, handheld computers, and the like, do not have simple “On/Off”states. To differentiate between these power states, the followingterminology will be used to better define the multiple power states of adevice 108. “Device Off” is used to indicate that the device 108 iscompletely turned off; in other words, virtually no power is being usedby the communication device 108 in this state. When “Device Off” thedevice 108 cannot receive or transmit typical communications, signals,alerts, and the like. “Device On” is used to indicate that the device108 is turned on, capable of receiving and transmitting communications,signals, and alerts, and power is directed to the device 108 display andall recruited components. In some embodiments, “Device On” may indicatethat the device 108 display is fully powered. In another embodiment, afully powered display may indicate that the device 108 is in a conditionto detect input received at all areas of the display (e.g.,touch-screen). “Device Lock” is used to indicate that power to thecommunication device 108 display is limited, but the device 108 iscapable of receiving and transmitting communications, signals, alerts,and the like. Device Lock saves battery power by reducing power suppliedto the display while allowing applications to present an alert to thedisplay or other indicator upon direction of the feature control module104 and/or an application. In an embodiment where the display maycomprise a touch-screen, a Device Lock state may cause reduced power tobe directed to the display (e.g., in a limited area or section of thedisplay). In accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure,the feature control module 104 and/or application may transition thedevice 108 from a Device On state to a Device Lock state and vice versa.

The settings of a device 108 may be configured to lock the device 108,or operate the device 108 in a Device Lock state, when controlled by thefeature control module 104. For instance, a parent/guardian mayconfigure a child's device 108 to be controlled in accordance withstrict settings and/or preferences. In this instance, theparent/guardian may determine that a device 108 may be a distraction toa child, while driving, in any state other than the Device Lock state.As such, the parent/guardian can set the device 108 to respond tofeature control module 104 controls by operating the device in a DeviceLock state. In contrast, a parent/guardian may wish to configure thesettings of a device 108 to be less strict and allow access to otherfeatures of the device 108. In this case, a parent/guardian mayconfigure a device 108 to only lock specific features associated withthe device 108. In any event, the device 108 may be controlled at higherlevels of strictness than provided by the vehicle-device laws determinedin step 312. These higher levels of strictness may be provided by userpreferences and/or device 108 settings. In some cases, the device 108state may override settings, laws, and/or preferences.

The method continues by determining the state of the device 108 (step320). States of the device 108 may include one or more power state (on,off, and/or locked), orientation (vertical, horizontal, angle, etc.),operation (e.g., input type, running and/or background applications),sensor states, and the like. Among other things, specific device 108states may indicate one or more conditions related to the user 112,vehicle 204, and/or the device 108 itself. For example, a device 108 maybe in an unpowered, or Device Off, state and as such the condition maypreclude control by the feature control module 104. On the other hand,the state information of the device 108 may indicate that the device 108is operating in a Device On state and may be subject to control via thefeature control module 104. It is an aspect that sensor informationreceived from a device 108 may determine control via the feature controlmodule 104. For instance, one or more sensors on a device 108 may detectan impact, shock, and/or other tactile input and may correlate the data(in some instances in combination with other data) to determine aresponse by the feature control module 104.

The vehicle state is determined at step 324. This vehicle state mayinclude but is not limited to vehicle motion (driving, stopped, etc.),position (geographically), speed, acceleration, deceleration,transmission state (in-park, engaged drive, engaged reverse, in-gear,neutral), component status (parking brake, airbag, safety restraintsystem, engine control unit (ECU) output, CANbus activity), occupants(number, position, weight, and the like), sensor information(temperatures, pressures, etc.), and combinations thereof. In anexemplary embodiment, a user 112 may be driving a vehicle 204 whileattempting to simultaneously operate an associated device 108. Upondetecting that the vehicle 204 is moving, the feature control module 104may control the device 108 and/or features of the device 108accordingly. Additionally or alternatively, when the vehicle 204 isdetermined to be in a stationary state (i.e., not moving), and evenin-park, the feature control module 104 may determine to ceasecontrolling the device 108.

In some embodiments, the vehicle 204 state may indicate an emergencycondition. For example, the vehicle 204, via one or more sensors 132,140 may indicate that the vehicle 204 has been subjected to substantialamounts of impact force, the airbag deployed, the anti-lock brakingsystem engaged, the vehicle 204 instantaneously moved in a directioncontrary to historical data collected over time, the speed of thevehicle reduced dramatically, and more. These exemplary sensor responsesmay be indicative of an accident. In any event, the feature controlmodule 104 may be configured to address emergency scenarios, especiallywith respect to the control of one or more devices 108. In oneembodiment, an emergency state may cause the feature control module 104to provide unfettered access to the device 108 and/or its features. Inanother embodiment, an emergency state may cause the feature controlmodule 104 to present an emergency message to the one or more devices108. This emergency message may be sent to emergency services personneland/or a third party. Furthermore, the emergency message may includedetails regarding the emergency, the state of the vehicle 204, the stateof a user 112, and/or the state of the device 108.

The feature control module 104 is configured to control one or moredevices 108 based at least in part on rules (step 328). In general, thefeature control module may utilize any one or more of the stepspresented herein in determining control of the one or more devices 108.In some embodiments, the rules may direct that all of the stepsdisclosed herein be considered before the specific control of a device108 is initiated. These rules may include at least one algorithm toprovide a controlling action response from the feature control module104. The rules may use sensor information collected, settings, laws, andmore in determining a control action.

Control of a device 108 may take a number of forms. In some embodiments,control of a device 108 may include restricting access to specificapplications, programs, and/or features of the device 108. For example,a user 112 whose device is being controlled by a feature control module104 may be allowed to access the home screen of a device 108 to checkthe time and/or date. However, this user 112 may be restricted, by thefeature control module 104, from accessing a communications interface(e.g., telephone, texting, SMS, MMS, email, web browsers, and the like).Additionally or alternatively, the user may be restricted from accessingprograms that require physical input at the device 108. For instance, auser 112 may be allowed to use the device 108 to send some form ofcommunication and/or interface with the device 108 using voice commandsand/or visual input.

In some embodiments, the control of a device 108 may includetransitioning the device 108 from one state to another. Among otherthings, various device 108 states may include Device On, Device Off, andDevice Lock. In accordance with the present disclosure, and aspreviously stated, the rules may refer to location of the device 108 toactivate and/or deactivate a control action. Additionally oralternatively, a control message may be presented to an interfaceassociated with the device 108 to indicate that the device 108 iscontrolled or released from control.

In other embodiments, the control of a device 108 may include blockingcommunications to and/or from the device 108. This type ofcommunications control may be activated in one or more of an area 208, azone 212, and a device 108. For instance, if one or more devices 108 aredetected in a given area 208, the feature control module 104 maydetermine to control all of the devices 108 together. This control mayinclude interfering with the devices' 108 communication abilities.

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram depicting a second feature control systemmethod 400 in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure. Ingeneral, the method 400 is directed to detecting a device 108 and anyassociated settings for the control of the device 108. The method beginsat step 404 and proceeds by detecting one or more device 108 (step 408).As disclosed above, detection may be achieved through physical and/orwireless techniques. Moreover, the disclosed detection techniques may beautomatically performed and/or manually initiated. If no device 108 isdetected, the method ends (step 442).

Upon detecting a device, however, the method 400 continues bydetermining whether any settings are associated with the device 108(step 412). These settings may include data associated with a user,device, application, and/or feature control module 104. Typical settingsmay be stored in device data 120, at the feature control module 104system data 106, and/or remotely in stored data 124. If no settings aredetected, the user 112 may be prompted to enter settings, and/orconfigure the device 108 (step 416).

At this point, the user 112 may enter settings as prompted (step 420).In other words, the user 112 may enter settings information at one ormore of the device 108, interface to the feature control module 104,and/or at a server 122. The settings may be prompted via at least oneapplication running on the device, a server, and/or running as part ofthe feature control module 104. If the user fails to enter settings asprompted, the method 400 may continue by optionally controlling thedevice 108 based on default settings (step 424) and/or end the method(step 442).

If settings are available, or if the user 112 enters settings asprompted, the method 400 may continue by controlling the device 108based at least in part on the settings and on rules stored in memory(step 428). In an exemplary embodiment, the feature control module 104may control one or more behavior of the device 108. For example, rulesmay dictate that while a vehicle 204 is in motion, the device 108 shouldbe controlled for all communications applications. Additionally oralternatively, a user 112 may enter settings directing that, whencontrolled by a feature control module 104, the device 104 should betransitioned to a Device Lock state. Moreover, the user 112 may wish tohave an alert/notification pushed to the device 108 interface toindicate that the device 108 is being controlled. Thisalert/notification may be provided in the form of a message. It isanticipated that vehicle 204 and/or device 108 conditions may becontinually monitored by the feature control module 104 to modify thecontrol method 400. Once a device 108 is controlled, the method mayreturn to detecting any available devices 108 (step 408). If no device108 is found, the method ends (step 442).

Referring to FIG. 5, a flow diagram is shown depicting a third featurecontrol system method 500 in accordance with embodiments of the presentdisclosure. Among other things, the method 500 discloses a featurecontrol module 104 utilizing device 108 and/or vehicle 204 location todetermine at least one control action. The method begins at step 504 andproceeds by detecting one or more device 108 (step 508). If no device isfound, the method ends (step 520).

Upon detecting a device 108, the method 500 continues by determining thelocation of the device 108 (and/or vehicle 204) (step 512). The locationof the device 108 may refer to physical location of the device 108inside or outside of a vehicle 204. In the event that a device 108 isdetermined to be located inside a vehicle 204, a specific location ofthe device 108 may be determined. Additionally or alternatively, thedevice 108 may be determined to be in a general location inside thevehicle 204. Depending on the rules and/or state of the vehicle 204, thespecific location of the device 108 may be important to the featurecontrol module 104 in determining to control the device 108 or itsfeatures. For example, a device 108 detected in the driver's seat of avehicle 204 may be controlled differently than a device 108 detected inthe rear passenger seat of a vehicle 204. As one example, a device 108in the driver's seat may be controlled to more strict conditions. On theother hand, a device 108 found in the rear passenger location may beunrestricted or minimally restricted.

In some embodiments, the location of the device 108 may include alocation of the vehicle 204. In other words, a location of the device108 detected inside a vehicle 204, may be provided by a GPS or otherlocation service of the vehicle and/or the device 108 itself. Thisgeographical location of the vehicle 204 may be used by the featurecontrol module 104 in initiating a control action. In particular, thefeature control module 104 may refer to laws associated with thegeographical location of the vehicle 204 in controlling the device 108.In some instances, these laws may be related to traffic and/orvehicle-device use statutes created by a government or third party.

When the device 108 is location is determined, the method 500 continuesby controlling the device 108 based at least partially on the locationof the device 108 and stored rules (step 516). As provided in an exampleabove, a device 108 may be controlled in accordance with laws based onthe location of the device 108 in the vehicle 204. The method 500 maycontinue by returning to the step of detecting devices (step 508). If nodevice is found, the method ends (step 520).

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram depicting a fourth feature control systemmethod 600 in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure. Ingeneral, the method 600 is directed to determining a state of a vehicle204 to provide control action guidance for the feature control module104. In some embodiments, the feature control module 104 may beconfigured to cease control of a device and/or its applications based ona number of states associated with a vehicle 204. One of theseoverriding control states is an emergency detected by the featurecontrol module 104.

The method 600 begins at step 604 and proceeds by determining whetherone or more devices 108 have been detected (step 608). If no device isfound, the method ends (step 628). However, upon detecting a device 108,the method 600 continues by determining a state of the vehicle 204 (step612). A vehicle state may be determined by one or more inputs providedvia the vehicle sensors 132, non-vehicle sensors 140, device 108, and auser 112.

In some embodiments, the method 600 may interpret the nature of thevehicle state determined in step 612. In particular, the feature controlmodule 104 may determine whether the vehicle is in a state of emergencyor not (step 616). As described above, an emergency state may bedetermined from a number of vehicle 204 inputs. For example, variousvehicle sensors 132 may indicate that an oil line associated with thevehicle 204 is losing pressure, the engine is reaching an unusually highpredetermined temperature, and the safety restraint sensors detectimpact at the front of the vehicle 204. This combination of sensorinputs may be enough to qualify as an emergency. In some embodiments,the user 112 may input an override command to indicate an emergencystate. This override command may be in the form of video, voice,tactile, or other input.

Upon detecting an emergency state of the vehicle 204, the featurecontrol module 104 may be directed to override specific controlledfeatures of the device 108 (step 620). In other words, the featurecontrol module 104 may allow access to all, or less than all, of thefeatures of the device 108. For example, in the event of an emergency, auser's 112 access to the communications applications of a device 108 maybe considered important if not critical. Therefore, a detected emergencystate may prevent the restricted control of the device's communicationhardware and/or software.

In the event that the vehicle state is not determined to be anemergency, the method 600 continues by controlling the device 108 basedat least partially on the vehicle state and stored rules (step 624). Forexample, one or more sensors 132, 140 may indicate that a vehicle 204has reduced speed in a short amount of time. However, the featurecontrol module 104 may determine that this type of scenario is not anemergency. As such, the device 108 may be controlled in accordance withthe current vehicle state and rules. For instance, the vehicle state mayindicate that the vehicle 204 is stopped and in-park. In this case, thefeature control module 104 may allow access to features of the device108. Upon detecting a state change of the vehicle 204, the featurecontrol module 104 may control the device 108 differently (e.g.,restricting access to features of the device 108). The method 600 maycontinue by returning to the step of detecting devices (step 608). If nodevice is found the method ends (step 628).

The exemplary systems and methods of this disclosure have been describedin relation to a feature control module 104 and associated devices 108.As suggested by this disclosure, features may be shared between afeature control module 104 and a device 108. However, to avoidunnecessarily obscuring the present disclosure, the precedingdescription omits a number of known structures and devices. Thisomission is not to be construed as a limitation of the scopes of theclaims. Specific details are set forth to provide an understanding ofthe present disclosure. It should however be appreciated that thepresent disclosure may be practiced in a variety of ways beyond thespecific detail set forth herein.

Furthermore, while the exemplary aspects, embodiments, and/orconfigurations illustrated herein show the various components of thesystem collocated, certain components of the system can be locatedremotely, at distant portions of a distributed network, such as a LANand/or the Internet, or within a dedicated system. Thus, it should beappreciated, that the components of the system can be combined in to oneor more devices, such as a Personal Computer (PC), laptop, netbook,smart phone, Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), tablet, etc., orcollocated on a particular node of a distributed network, such as ananalog and/or digital telecommunications network, a packet-switchnetwork, or a circuit-switched network. It will be appreciated from thepreceding description, and for reasons of computational efficiency, thatthe components of the system can be arranged at any location within adistributed network of components without affecting the operation of thesystem. For example, the various components can be located in a switchsuch as a PBX and media server, gateway, in one or more communicationsdevices, at one or more users' premises, or some combination thereof.Similarly, one or more functional portions of the system could bedistributed between a telecommunications device(s) and an associatedcomputing device.

Furthermore, it should be appreciated that the various links connectingthe elements can be wired or wireless links, or any combination thereof,or any other known or later developed element(s) that is capable ofsupplying and/or communicating data to and from the connected elements.These wired or wireless links can also be secure links and may becapable of communicating encrypted information. Transmission media usedas links, for example, can be any suitable carrier for electricalsignals, including coaxial cables, copper wire and fiber optics, and maytake the form of acoustic or light waves, such as those generated duringradio-wave and infra-red data communications.

Also, while the flowcharts have been discussed and illustrated inrelation to a particular sequence of events, it should be appreciatedthat changes, additions, and omissions to this sequence can occurwithout materially affecting the operation of the disclosed embodiments,configuration, and aspects.

A number of variations and modifications of the disclosure can be used.It would be possible to provide for some features of the disclosurewithout providing others.

In some embodiments, the systems and methods of this disclosure can beimplemented in conjunction with a special purpose computer, a programmedmicroprocessor or microcontroller and peripheral integrated circuitelement(s), an ASIC or other integrated circuit, a digital signalprocessor, a hard-wired electronic or logic circuit such as discreteelement circuit, a programmable logic device or gate array such as PLD,PLA, FPGA, PAL, special purpose computer, any comparable means, or thelike. In general, any device(s) or means capable of implementing themethodology illustrated herein can be used to implement the variousaspects of this disclosure. Exemplary hardware that can be used for thedisclosed embodiments, configurations and aspects includes computers,handheld devices, telephones (e.g., cellular, Internet enabled, digital,analog, hybrids, and others), and other hardware known in the art. Someof these devices include processors (e.g., a single or multiplemicroprocessors), memory, nonvolatile storage, input devices, and outputdevices. Furthermore, alternative software implementations including,but not limited to, distributed processing or component/objectdistributed processing, parallel processing, or virtual machineprocessing can also be constructed to implement the methods describedherein.

In yet another embodiment, the disclosed methods may be readilyimplemented in conjunction with software using object or object-orientedsoftware development environments that provide portable source code thatcan be used on a variety of computer or workstation platforms.Alternatively, the disclosed system may be implemented partially orfully in hardware using standard logic circuits or VLSI design. Whethersoftware or hardware is used to implement the systems in accordance withthis disclosure is dependent on the speed and/or efficiency requirementsof the system, the particular function, and the particular software orhardware systems or microprocessor or microcomputer systems beingutilized.

In yet another embodiment, the disclosed methods may be partiallyimplemented in software that can be stored on a storage medium, executedon programmed general-purpose computer with the cooperation of acontroller and memory, a special purpose computer, a microprocessor, orthe like. In these instances, the systems and methods of this disclosurecan be implemented as program embedded on personal computer such as anapplet, JAVA® or CGI script, as a resource residing on a server orcomputer workstation, as a routine embedded in a dedicated measurementsystem, system component, or the like. The system can also beimplemented by physically incorporating the system and/or method into asoftware and/or hardware system.

Although the present disclosure describes components and functionsimplemented in the aspects, embodiments, and/or configurations withreference to particular standards and protocols, the aspects,embodiments, and/or configurations are not limited to such standards andprotocols. Other similar standards and protocols not mentioned hereinare in existence and are considered to be included in the presentdisclosure. Moreover, the standards and protocols mentioned herein andother similar standards and protocols not mentioned herein areperiodically superseded by faster or more effective equivalents havingessentially the same functions. Such replacement standards and protocolshaving the same functions are considered equivalents included in thepresent disclosure.

The present disclosure, in various aspects, embodiments, and/orconfigurations, includes components, methods, processes, systems and/orapparatus substantially as depicted and described herein, includingvarious aspects, embodiments, configurations embodiments,subcombinations, and/or subsets thereof. Those of skill in the art willunderstand how to make and use the disclosed aspects, embodiments,and/or configurations after understanding the present disclosure. Thepresent disclosure, in various aspects, embodiments, and/orconfigurations, includes providing devices and processes in the absenceof items not depicted and/or described herein or in various aspects,embodiments, and/or configurations hereof, including in the absence ofsuch items as may have been used in previous devices or processes, e.g.,for improving performance, achieving ease and\or reducing cost ofimplementation.

The foregoing discussion has been presented for purposes of illustrationand description. The foregoing is not intended to limit the disclosureto the form or forms disclosed herein. In the foregoing DetailedDescription for example, various features of the disclosure are groupedtogether in one or more aspects, embodiments, and/or configurations forthe purpose of streamlining the disclosure. The features of the aspects,embodiments, and/or configurations of the disclosure may be combined inalternate aspects, embodiments, and/or configurations other than thosediscussed above. This method of disclosure is not to be interpreted asreflecting an intention that the claims require more features than areexpressly recited in each claim. Rather, as the following claimsreflect, inventive aspects lie in less than all features of a singleforegoing disclosed aspect, embodiment, and/or configuration. Thus, thefollowing claims are hereby incorporated into this Detailed Description,with each claim standing on its own as a separate preferred embodimentof the disclosure.

Moreover, though the description has included description of one or moreaspects, embodiments, and/or configurations and certain variations andmodifications, other variations, combinations, and modifications arewithin the scope of the disclosure, e.g., as may be within the skill andknowledge of those in the art, after understanding the presentdisclosure. It is intended to obtain rights which include alternativeaspects, embodiments, and/or configurations to the extent permitted,including alternate, interchangeable and/or equivalent structures,functions, ranges or steps to those claimed, whether or not suchalternate, interchangeable and/or equivalent structures, functions,ranges or steps are disclosed herein, and without intending to publiclydedicate any patentable subject matter.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of controlling access to one or morefeatures of a communication device associated with a vehicle,comprising: establishing, by a microprocessor executable feature controlmodule, a connection with the communication device, wherein the featurecontrol module is configured to receive input from at least one sensor;determining, by the feature control module, a location of thecommunication device relative to the vehicle; and controlling, via thefeature control module and based at least partially on the location ofthe communication device, user access to one or more features of thecommunication device.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the connectionbetween the communication device and feature control module isestablished via manually registering the communication device with thefeature control module.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the connectionbetween the communication device and feature control module isestablished via automatically registering the communication device withthe feature control module.
 4. The method of claim 3, whereinautomatically registering the communication device further comprisesstoring in a memory an identifier associated with the communicationdevice.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the location of thecommunication device is determined to be inside the vehicle.
 6. Themethod of claim 5, wherein the inside of the vehicle is arranged intoone or more areas, and wherein the communication device is located in aspecific area of the one or more areas.
 7. The method of claim 6,wherein the specific area is associated with an operating area of thevehicle, and wherein the feature control module restricts access to theone or more features of the communication device.
 8. The method of claim6, wherein the specific area is associated with a passenger area of thevehicle, and wherein the feature control module allows unrestrictedaccess to the one or more features of the communication device.
 9. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising: referring to one or more rulesrelating to operating the communication device while operating thevehicle; and wherein user access to the one or more features of thecommunication device is controlled based at least partially on the oneor more rules.
 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the one or more rulescorrespond to laws associated with a geographical region, and whereinthe laws are stored in a memory.
 11. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: referring to one or more settings associated with thecommunication device; and wherein user access to the one or morefeatures of the communication device is controlled based at leastpartially on the one or more settings.
 12. The method of claim 1,further comprising: determining a state of the vehicle associated withthe communication device, wherein determining the vehicle state furthercomprises: receiving input from the at least one sensor; andinterpreting whether the input received indicates an emergency stateassociated with the vehicle; wherein user access to the one or morefeatures of the communication device is controlled based at leastpartially on the determined state of the vehicle.
 13. The method ofclaim 12, wherein the vehicle is determined to be in an emergency state,and wherein unrestricted user access to the one or more features of thecommunication device is allowed.
 14. The method of claim 12, wherein thevehicle is determined to be in a parked state, and wherein unrestricteduser access to the one or more features of the communication device isallowed.
 15. The method of claim 12, wherein the vehicle is determinedto be in a moving state, and wherein user access to the one or morefeatures of the communication device is restricted.
 16. A tangible,non-transitory computer readable medium having instructions storedthereon that, when executed by a processor, perform the methodcomprising: establishing a connection with the communication device;receiving input from at least one sensor; determining a location of thecommunication device relative to a vehicle; and controlling based atleast partially on the location of the communication device, user accessto one or more features of the communication device.
 17. Thenon-transitory computer readable medium of claim 16, wherein the methodfurther comprises: referring to one or more rules relating to operatingthe communication device while operating the vehicle, wherein the one ormore rules correspond to laws associated with a geographical region, andwherein the laws are stored in a memory; and wherein user access to theone or more features of the communication device is controlled based atleast partially on the one or more rules
 18. The non-transitory computerreadable medium of claim 16, wherein the method further comprises:referring to one or more settings associated with the communicationdevice; and wherein user access to the one or more features of thecommunication device is controlled based at least partially on the oneor more settings.
 19. A system for controlling access to one or morefeatures of a communication device associated with a vehicle,comprising: a feature control module, wherein the feature control moduleis configured to control the communication device via communicationacross the communication network; at least one sensor; and amicroprocessor executable feature control module operable to: establisha connection with the communication device, wherein the feature controlmodule is configured to receive input from the at least one sensor;determine a location of the communication device relative to thevehicle; and control, based at least partially on the location of thecommunication device, user access to one or more features of thecommunication device.
 20. The system of claim 19, further comprising: arules management server, wherein the rules management server isconfigured to control access to one or more rules relating to operatingthe communication device while operating the vehicle; and wherein themethod further comprises: referring to one or more rules relating tooperating the communication device while operating the vehicle; andwherein user access to the one or more features of the communicationdevice is controlled based at least partially on the one or more rules.